Rake attachment for rotary mower

ABSTRACT

A rotating power rake for use with a rotary mower including hinged tooth carriers adapted to be held in an operative position by aerodymanic forces.

United States Patent 1 1 1 3,742,688 Tonjes, Jr. July 3, 1973 [541 RAKEATTACHMENT FOR ROTARY 3,015,929 1/1962 Bright 56/193 3,184,903 5/1965Fjelstad 56/17.5 MOWER 3,117,633 1/1964 Hosek 172/42 [76] Inventor:Henry B. Tonjes, Jr., Box 188. 3,367,093 2/1968 Zwickel 1 56/400.04Wisner, Nebr. 68791 3,589,112 6/1971 Frohmader 56/295 1 1 H 56 367 221Filed: Nov. 6, 1972 97 [21] Appl' 304,120 Primary Examiner-Russell R.Kinsey Attorny-Lucas J. DeKoster [52] U.S. Cl 56/193, 56/295, 56/367,172/42 [51] Int. Cl A0ld 43/02 [58] Field of Search 56/17, 5, 16.1, 193,[57] ABSTRACT 56/l6.6, 295, 367, 400.04; 172/42, 1 1 A rotating powerrake for use with a rotary mower inv cluding hinged tooth carriersadapted to be held in an [56] References C'ted operative position byaerodymanic forces.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,720,071 10/1955 Watanabe 56/16.6 8 Claims, 3Drawing Figures RAKE ATTACHMENT FOR ROTARY MOWER.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION mower have been unsuccessful.Part of the problem has been that the raking member usually a springwire tooth or the like has been so rigid that it dug into the lawn, orthat it has been spring mounted and cracked off.

By my device I provide a powered rake attachment for a rotary lanw mowerwhich utilizes aerodynamic forces to hold the raking member in contactwith the lawn. This provides for relatively firm contact, but stillallows quick and easy release where irregularities exist.

FIGURES FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a cutter bar embodying myinvention,

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a cutter bar showing alternative formsof raking members, and

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view from the end ofa cutter bar.

DESCRIPTION Briefly my invention comprises a raking means for attachmentto a powered rotary .mower including hinged means attached to the cutterbar. The hinged means includes a surface extending into the air streamaround the bar so that there will be aerodynamic pressure on the surfaceto hold the raking member in contact with the lawn surface.

More specifically and referring to the drawings, my device is attachedto a cutter bar of the ordinary powered rotary lawn mower. This bar, asis well known, includes cutting edges 11 on what I prefer to call theleading edge fo the bar. The cutter, in plan form, may have a taperedtrailing edge as shown in the figures or may be rectangular. In mostinstances there is a slight upward twist at the trailing edge designedto produce an upward flow of air. This air flow tends to pull the grassupright so that it can be cut more evenly and so that the cut ends arethrown out of the exit chute of the mower housing by the air stream.

My invention includes the idea of an attachment to the trailing edge ofthe cutter bar which will in no way interfere with the lifting orthrowing action. In fact, it will ordinarily augment that action.

As shown in the figures, I attach a hinged member having a fixed part 12and a flap member 13 to the trailing edge of the bar 10 near its outerend. Attachment of the fixed part may be made by screw threaded meanssuch as bolts in order that the entire device can be removed, or it maybe permanently attached by welding, spot welding or the like. The flpmember 13 is preferably attached to the fixed part 12 by a hinge pin 14having a head 15. This pin 14 should be removable, and therefore, thehead 15 should be at the end of the pin closer to the center of rotationso that centirfugal force will not tend to remove the pin, but ratherwill tend to hold it in place.

The operating mechansim of the rake includes one or more rake fingers 16attached to a flap part 13 of each hinge. Preferably, these fingersextend through a notch 17 formed in the hinge and then extend along theupper surface of the flap 13 to the point where the finger is attachedto the flap. It will be apparent that while two or more fingers could beattached as shown on the one end of the blade in FIG. 2 that a uniformnumber should be used on both ends to retain balance of the blade, andthat the use of a single finger on one end of the blade with two or moreat the other end should be avoided unless care is taken to otherwisebalance the blade. It will also be evident that the fingers can beeither permanently or releasably attached to the flap.

In order to hold the flap member 13 in its operating position, I providestop members 18. These may be formed as a part of the fixed member 12 ofthe hinge, or may be attached thereto. They extend beneath the flap andare formed to prevent the flap from falling below a position in whichthe flap angles upward from the blade 10. Thus, there is always a raisedtrailing edge to the bar 10 at the radius of the hinge member.

This raised trailing edge augments the action of the uptilted trailingedge of the cutter bar 10, but also causes a force downward on the flap.The downward force pressing against the stop member 18 also tends tohold the rake finger or fingers 16 against the surface of the lawn beingraked. Thus, while the cutter bar rotates, there is always a pressure onthe finger which can readily be overcome if the finger hits anirregularity in the ground or some object on the ground. If that shouldhappen, the blade will continue to rotate, and aerodynamic pressureswill again quickly return the flap to its original position and rakingwill continue with only a very minimum of interruption.

If more or less pressure on the fingers 16 is desired, the stops 18maybe adjusted to hold the flap 13 at a steeper or less steep anlge tothe blade. In that way the aerodynamic forces and therefore the forceholding the finger down is controlled.

It is also possible to use the blade without using the rake simply bypulling out the hinge pin 14 from each hinge and removing the flaps 13carrying the fingers 16. If desired, the entire mechanism may also beremoved if bolts or the like are used as fasteners. However, the use ofa removable hinge pin makes this mode of disassembly so easy that it isdoubtful that removing the entire assembly would be chosen by mosthouseholders. In any event, it is desirable to keep the airflow over theupper surface reasonably smooth. Therefore, if screw or bolts are usedto hold the fixed part 12 in place, I prefer that they be counter sunkinto the blade and that the fixed part 12 be fastened to the lower sideof the blade. The barrel part 20 of the hinge then should lieimmediately adjacent to the edge of the blade, ad flap part 13 should beplaced so that it preserves as nearly as possible a smooth path forairlow over the upper surface.

I claim:

I. For use on lawns, a rotary rake means comprising blade means adaptedto be rotated, movable flap means attached to said blade means at atrailing edge thereof, said flap means being positioned to be presseddownwardly by aerodynamic forces generated by the rotation of said blademeans, and finger means on said flap means adapted to touch said lawn,said aerodynamic foces being such as to press said finger means intocontact with the lawn.

2. The device of claim 1 in which said flap means are removably attachedto said blade means.

3. The device of claim 1 in which said flap means is a part of hingedmeans having a part fixed to said blade and a part movable relativethereto, said last named part forming the flap means.

4. The device of claim 3 in which said hinged means includes a removablepin adapted to hold said fixed part and said flap part in movablerelationship to each other, said pin being removable to allowdisassembly of said hinged means.

5. The device of claim 1 in which stop means are fastened to said bladeand are positioned to engage said flap means, said positioning beingsuch that the flap means slope upward from said blade means.

6. For attachment to the blade of a rotary lawn mower, rake meanscomprising hinged means having two parts hinged together, one of saidparts being a fixed part adapted to be attached to said blade and theother of said parts being a flap part, wire finger means attached tosaid flap part and extending downwardly therefrom when mounted on saidblade, said flap part being arranged normally to slope upward from saidblade when said fixed part is properly attached to said blade.

7. The device of claim 6 in which stop means is attached to said fixedpart in position to engage said flap part to stop said flap part fromdropping below its normal upward sloping position.

8. The device of claim 7 in which said fixed part and said flap part areheld together by a removable pin, said pin being removable so that saidhinge may be disassembled and said flap part removed.

1. For use on lawns, a rotary rake means comprising blade means adaptedto be rotated, movable flap means attached to said blade means at atrailing edge thereof, said flap means being positioned to be presseddownwardly by aerodynamic forces generated by the rotation of said blademeans, and finger means on said flap means adapted to touch said lawn,said aerodynamic foces being such as to press said finger means intocontact with the lawn.
 2. The device of claim 1 in which said flap meansare removably attached to said blade means.
 3. The device of claim 1 inwhich said flap means is a part of hinged means having a part fixed tosaid blade and a part movable relative thereto, said last named partforming the flap means.
 4. The device of claim 3 in which said hingedmeans includes a removable pin adapted to hold said fixed part and saidflap part in movable relationship to each other, said pin beingremovable to allow disassembLy of said hinged means.
 5. The device ofclaim 1 in which stop means are fastened to said blade and arepositioned to engage said flap means, said positioning being such thatthe flap means slope upward from said blade means.
 6. For attachment tothe blade of a rotary lawn mower, rake means comprising hinged meanshaving two parts hinged together, one of said parts being a fixed partadapted to be attached to said blade and the other of said parts being aflap part, wire finger means attached to said flap part and extendingdownwardly therefrom when mounted on said blade, said flap part beingarranged normally to slope upward from said blade when said fixed partis properly attached to said blade.
 7. The device of claim 6 in whichstop means is attached to said fixed part in position to engage saidflap part to stop said flap part from dropping below its normal upwardsloping position.
 8. The device of claim 7 in which said fixed part andsaid flap part are held together by a removable pin, said pin beingremovable so that said hinge may be disassembled and said flap partremoved.